Tomb Raider buried its box office competition this weekend with $48 million in ticket sales.
Paramount and Mutual Film Company's PG-13 rated action adventure Lara Croft: Tomb Raider arrived to a butt kicking ESTIMATED $48.2 million at 3,308 theaters ($14,571 per theater), heading for $140-150 million in domestic theaters.
Tomb's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend. Tomb opened bigger than the similar female power themed Charlie's Angels, which arrived to $40.13 million the weekend of Nov. 3-5, 2000 at 3,037 theaters, averaging $13,213 per theater). Angels, which played through the holiday season rather than the summer, went on to gross $125.3 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Simon West, Tomb stars Angelina Jolie.
Distribution sources noted that Tomb's ticket sales fell from Friday to Saturday by five or six percent instead of going up as is typically the case. Some attributed that decline to the film's unfavorable reviews, saying they kept adults away and that Paramount should not have screened the picture for critics. Other insiders countered that the bad reviews didn't really matter to the film's core audience of young moviegoers and that it wasn't unusual for movies opening so huge to be down a little on Saturday from Friday's heat of opening day.
"I can tell you that it wasn't unexpected," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning about Saturday's drop versus Friday. "I was using X-Men as the comparison to this. Their opening was like $54 million ($54.47 million the weekend of July 14-16, 2000 at 3,025 theaters, averaging $18,007 per theater) versus this one at $48 million. They were down seven percent on Saturday versus Friday and we're down five percent.
"Their Sunday was off 25 percent. I've estimated this one to be off 23 percent Sunday to Saturday, but quite frankly the fact that it's Fathers Day is (helpful because it's) a good movie day. I've looked back (at Sunday versus Saturday drops on Father's Day) and Mission: Impossible 2 was only off 21 percent (and) Shaft was off 11 percent. Most of the films were in the 10 to 15 percent drop on Sunday versus Saturday. So we could actually end up with a little better number."
Driven by Tomb, this Fathers Day weekend's box office for key films -- those grossing at least $500,000 - is about $128 million. Several distributors pointed out that that total is about 35 percent bigger than last year's $94.4 million key film gross and would make this the biggest Fathers Day weekend ever.
As for Tomb's exit polls, Lewellen said, "It was about 55 percent to 45 percent male versus female and younger than older. 25 and under is the majority of the audience. I don't have the breakdown (yet), but the majority of the audience was under 25. The definite recommends were very good -- in the younger audience more so than the older audience."
The film's strong opening came despite largely negative reviews. "I think is one of those films that may be review proof," Lewellen said. "That audience was ready to go see it. Particularly being a younger audience, the reviews don't have as much of an impact as (they would on) an older audience."
Asked where Tomb is heading in domestic theaters, Lewellen said it most likely would be in the $140-150 million range: "Obviously, the key to it is the second weekend and how it holds. If it continues to play along the lines of X-Men, (that) was off 57% the second weekend. If we follow that, you're looking at around $140-145 million." X-Men opened to about $6 million more than Tomb and ended up with $157.2 million in domestic theaters.
Buena Vista/Disney's PG rated animated feature Atlantis went wide after one week of sold-out exclusive engagements in New York and Los Angeles. Atlantis made sizable second place waves with an ESTIMATED $20.35 million at 3,011 theaters (+3,009 theaters; $6,760 per theater). Its cume is approximately $20.9 million.
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, its voice talents include Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer and Leonard Nimoy.
"We're extremely pleased," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "We always set a target of $20 million and to be able to get there in the face of such an overpowering opening by Tomb Raider. I just think is great. We always try to counter program, but who could have ever imagined Tomb Raider to be that big? It's fabulous. I'm just happy to be number two and at a number that is really, really comfortable for everybody."
Asked about audience reaction to the film, Viane noted, "I saw the CinemaScores and they were A-plus for males under 21 and A for females (under 21). For the 21-34s, they were both A and for the 35 and overs, they were both B-plus. I think that says a lot. It shows that both fathers and moms are having a good time at the movie and that obviously helps us a lot because you get the whole family to go together then.
"Historically, what will happen is that your weekdays become that much more important now that it's summertime and everybody's getting out of school. By the time the week's over, I'd imagine we're going to be somewhere around $31 to $32 million and, boy, that's a hell of a start!"
Last summer, BV/Disney's launch of its animated feature Dinosaur opened to $38.85 million the weekend of May 19-21, averaging $11,930 per theater. It went on to gross $137.7 million in domestic theaters.
In the summer of 1999, BV/Disney's animated feature Tarzan kicked off to $34.2 million the weekend of June 18-20, averaging $11,388 per theater. It went on to gross $171.1 million in domestic theaters.
DreamWorks' PG rated computer animated blockbuster Shrek fell one slot to third place in its fifth week, still holding impressively with an ESTIMATED $12.9 million (-22%) at 3,317 theaters (-398 theaters; $3,885 per theater). Its cume is approximately $197.5 million on its way to $250 million or more.
DreamWorks said Sunday morning that it expects Shrek to crack $200 million this Tuesday or Wednesday.
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, its voice talents include Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow.
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow's R rated action thriller Swordfish dropped three rungs to fourth place in its second week, holding well with an ESTIMATED $12.16 million (-33%) at 2,688 theaters (+10 theaters; $4,522 per theater). Its cume is approximately $39.2 million, heading for the $70 millions in domestic theaters.
Directed by Dominic Sena and produced by Joel Silver and Jonathan Krane, it stars John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle.
"We had the largest percentage increase over Friday night -- up 54 percent -- than any other film this weekend," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "Audiences continue to enjoy and recommend the film. They like our cast, they like the movie."
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' PG-13 rated three hour epic action romance Pearl Harbor slid two levels to fifth place in its fourth weekend with a quieter $9.5 million (-35%) at 3,140 theaters (-115 theaters; $3,025 per theater). Its cume is approximately $159.9 million, on its way to $200 million by late summer.
Directed by Michael Bay, Pearl was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay and written by Randall Wallace. Its extensive cast is led by Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight and Alec Baldwin.
Focusing on where Pearl is heading, BV's Chuck Viane said, "I think it'll take us the rest of the summer (to reach $200 million). The picture shows that it plays very well on Saturday night. I think it'll be around for quite a while and that's the blessing of (having) all these megaplexes."
DreamWorks' and Columbia's PG-13 rated sci-fi comedy Evolution plunged two pegs to sixth place in its second week with a slower ESTIMATED $6.5 million (-52%) at 2,613 theaters (+2 theaters; $2,469 per theater). Its cume is approximately $25.4 million.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, it stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott and Julianne Moore.
Columbia's release of Revolution Studios PG-13 youth appeal comedy The Animal dropped two rungs in its third weekend to seventh place with a slower ESTIMATED $5.7 million (-41%) at 2,741 theaters (-47 theaters; $2,080 per theater). Its cume is approximately $45.4 million, heading. for $55 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Luke Greenfield, it stars Rob Schneider.
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated romantic musical drama Moulin Rouge slipped two notches in its fifth week (its third in wide release) to eighth place, holding well with an ESTIMATED $5.18 million (-32%) at 2,091 theaters (-192 theaters; $2,475 per theater). Its cume is approximately $36.8 million.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, it stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
"This is very, very encouraging," Fox distribution executive Rick Myerson said Sunday morning, pointing to the film's good legs. "The other pictures seem to be off a little bit more or about the same, so I think this is really good news for Moulin."
MGM's PG-13 comedy What's The Worst that Could Happen? fell two pegs to ninth place in its third weekend with a dull ESTIMATED $2.75 million (-50%) at 1,927 theaters (-748 theaters; $1,427 per theater). Its cume is approximately $27.3 million.
Directed by Sam Weisman, it stars Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Universal's PG-13 rated adventure blockbuster sequel The Mummy Returns, down two slots in its seventh week with an okay ESTIMATED $2.43 million (-48%) at 1,777 theaters (-763 theaters; $1,370 per theater). Its cume is approximately $193.2 million, heading for $200 million in domestic theaters.
Written and directed by Stephen Sommers, Mummy stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz and features an appearance by wrestling star The Rock.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Fox Searchlight's R rated drama "Sexy Beast" to a sexy ESTIMATED $0.18 million at 9 theaters ($20,077 per theater). Its cume after five days is approximately $0.23 million.
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, it stars Ben Kingsley.
"We're thrilled with the excellent opening we had which is really supported by the fantastic reviews that we've gotten almost unanimously across the board," Fox Searchlight distribution president Stephen Gilula said Sunday morning.
"It's a tremendous opening, I think, that shows that counter-programming of good alternative movies in the summertime can work (very well)."
Lions Gate Films' PG-13 rated drama Songcatcher opened to an unexciting ESTIMATED $0.040 million at 7 theaters ($5,686 per theater).
Directed by Maggie Greenwald, it stars Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, this weekend saw Miramax's R rated French thriller With a Friend Like Harry... continue to widen in its ninth week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.4 million at 220 theaters (+121 theaters; $1,835 per theater). Its North American cume is approximately $2.6 million.
Harry is being released under Miramax's French film banner Miramax Zoe.
Directed by Dominik Moll, it stars Laurent Lucas, Sergi Lopez, Mathilde Seigner and Sophie Guillemin.
Fine Line Features' R rated comedy The Anniversary Party went wider in its second week with an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.19 million at 16 theaters (+5 theaters; $11,955 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.4 million.
Written and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, its ensemble cast includes Jane Adams, Jennifer Belas, Phoebe Cates, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Parker Posey and John C. Reilly.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $128.01 million, up about 28.56% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $99.58 million.
This weekend's key film gross was up about 35.65% from last weekend this year when key films took in $94.37 million.
Last year, Paramount's opening week of Shaft was first with $21.71 million at 2,337 theaters ($9,292 per theater); and Buena Vista's second week of Gone In 60 Seconds was second with $14.90 million at 3,049 theaters ($4,886 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $36.6 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $68.6 million.
# # #

Swordfish was the weekend's biggest catch in this weekend's choppy box office waters.
In a weekend marked by surprisingly large percentage declines across the board, Swordfish outperformed expectations. The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow film flew much higher on Hollywood's radar screen than insiders had anticipated.
Overall, key films grossed about $94 million, down sharply by over 22% from last week and up only a marginal 1.4% from last year. Insiders attributed the hefty percentage declines this weekend to a number of possible factors, including competition from televised basketball and hockey playoffs, widespread good weather and a concentration of high school proms.
"It was interesting to see the number of graduations and proms that actually fell on this weekend while normally they're spread out a little," one top distributor pointed out. "I think people were tied up with a lot of family events this weekend. The weather back East was fantastic. And you had the NBA game on Friday and again today and you had the final game of the hockey playoffs, Game Seven, on Saturday. It was just a combination of things. Never is there one thing -- unless it's the Super Bowl -- that impacts the business like this. And that's just a one day thing.
"To give you an idea, on Friday of the pictures in the marketplace already, other than the two new pictures (that opened), all the pictures were off 47 percent (on average) on Friday night and off 51 percent (on average) on Saturday. That's way out of line from the norms. Most of the time you don't see one weekend dive so much from, like, the first weekend in June to the second weekend in June."
Nonetheless, the weekend saw Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures' R rated action drama Swordfish made a big first place splash with a tasty ESTIMATED $18.43 million at 2,678 theaters ($6,882 per theater).
Swordfish's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Dominic Sena and produced by Joel Silver and Jonathan Krane, it stars John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle.
Reflecting on how well Swordfish kicked off, Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning, "You have to just take a look at the demographics out there. All these movies were going after different audiences than ours. No question about it, the tracking once again proves that it doesn't always work. We came through. We're very, very happy about it. Now we're focusing on our second week."
Considering the competition from televised sports and a marketplace crowded with other films -- including DreamWorks' blockbuster Shrek, which many observers were predicting would move up from second place to capture top honors this weekend -- Fellman noted, "I think we beat the odds. We won the weekend certainly despite the NBA finals, which certainly hurt the box office on Friday and will again on Sunday."
Audience reaction, he added, "was really terrific. Our exits were great. The audience was 56% male and 44% female and they liked the movie equally, so that's very nice. This is the seventh motion picture in a row produced byJoel Silver that opened Number One in the marketplace.
"The studio's thrilled. It's nice to be in the John Travolta business when he's hot. We had a great cast (besides Travoltawith) Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Don Cheadle. These guys did a good job. And Dominic Sena made a good movie. And, of course, we have our production partners Village Roadshow in this movie, who deserve a tip of the hat."
Swordfish, Fellman said, "is John's third largest opening in his career. Face/Off is his biggest opening at $23.3 million. The General's Daughter is his second biggest at $22.3 million. Michael did $17 million, so this comes in (third). If you look at the (marketplace) for those movies in those days, there wasn't the enormous amount of competition the same weeks. They were generally free of competition. So (with Swordfish doing so well with a lot of competition now), it shows some strength for the movie."
As to where Swordfish might be heading, Fellman said it's too early to say at this point: "I think you need to sit back a little and digest the next weekend before we make predictions. We're off and running. It's a great opening for Warner Bros. and our summer. Our next movie is A.I. from Steven Spielberg and then we have also a terrific movie on July Fourth called Cats &amp; Dogs.
"We're looking forward to a huge year and, of course, with Harry Potter (in November) and Oceans 11 (in December) and Majestic at Christmas and Collateral Damage (in October) and Training Day (in September), we're in good shape."
DreamWorks' PG rated computer animated blockbuster Shrek held on to second place in its fourth week, continuing to show great legs with an ESTIMATED $17.1 million (-39%) at 3,715 theaters (+54 theaters; $4,602 per theater). Its cume is approximately $176.6 million on its way to $250-270 million.
With its move up to 3,715 playdates, DreamWorks set a record for the largest number of locations any film has ever played in, beating the record set last year by Paramount's Mission: Impossible 2 with 3,669 locations.
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, its voice talents include Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow.
"Two of the top five," DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp said Sunday morning, noting that the studio was very happy about its good showing with both Shrek and its opening of Evolution. "With that kind of weekend (where everything was down so much), we're actually pretty happy with both these numbers."
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' PG-13 rated three hour epic action romance Pearl Harbor dropped two fathoms to third place in its third weekend with a less lively $14.9 million (-50%) at 3,255 theaters (+41 theaters; $4,565 per theater). Its cume is approximately $144.1 million, heading for $200 million.
Directed by Michael Bay, Pearl was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay and written by Randall Wallace. Its extensive cast is led by Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight and Alec Baldwin.
"It appears that we're going to play on the same exact formula that Lost World did," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "Lost World was off 46-point-something percent and we're off 49.7 percent. It pretty much says that whatever the tracking of that particular movie was, that's the format we're going to find. Obviously, it takes you into the $200 millions."
Viane noted that there's a lot of competition in the marketplace from other films and that, "Part of it this weekend is that you've got (sports competition from) the Lakers on Friday and Sunday and you had the probably the first good weather in the East. But everybody was in that ballgame, so we're all equal (in terms of how it impacted)."
Viane pointed out that BV was also very pleased with its launch this weekend of Disney's PG rated animated adventure Atlantis in exclusive engagements in New York and Los Angeles. Atlantis did a staggering ESTIMATED $0.34 million at 2 theaters ($170,794 per theater).
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, its voice talents include Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer and Leonard Nimoy.
"What can I say other than, 'What a hell of a start?'" Viane observed.
Asked why BV had taken the exclusive engagements opening route with Atlantis that it had used years ago with its animated feature, Viane explained, "One of the greatest sales tools that a team has is when a movie plays really well. We had a sense that we'd get some really good critical reviews -- like Ebert and Roeper both gave it two thumbs up. We know the audience loves it. Any time you can get the people talking about your movie, then I think you've hit a home run. We knew very early on how much the public enjoys the movie. So we just decided to take a page out of our past and recreate it. It goes wide this Friday. I would imagine we'll approach 3,000 runs."
DreamWorks' and Columbia's PG-13 rated sci-fi comedy Evolution kicked off strongly in fourth place with a happy ESTIMATED $13.2 million at 2,611 theaters ($5,056 per theater).
Directed by Ivan Reitman, it stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott and Julianne Moore.
"Better than the tracking," DreamWorks' Jim Tharp said, noting that the film hadn't been expected to open this well. "And in a down weekend. We're pretty happy with the numbers based on the weekend that we're in."
Columbia's release of Revolution Studios PG-13 youth appeal comedy The Animal fell sharply in its second weekend, down two slots to fifth place with a quieter ESTIMATED $9.8 million (-50%) at 2,788 theaters (theater count unchanged; $3,515 per theater). The film, which only cost $22 million to make, has a cume of approximately $35.8 million and is heading for $60-70 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Luke Greenfield, it stars Rob Schneider.
"I think the drops (this weekend) were universally higher than what everyone would have liked," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing &amp; distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning.
"I think we can safely attribute that (to) the lovely weather that almost seems for the first time to be crossing the country this weekend. I think everybody lost a few points due to the weather this weekend."
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated romantic musical drama Moulin Rouge slid two notches in its fourth week (its second in wide release) with an okay ESTIMATED $7.62 million (-44%) at 2,283 theaters (+4 theaters; $3,336 per theater). Its cume is approximately $27.5 million.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, it stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
"Everybody (is down a lot this weekend). I'd be killing myself if it was only us," Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder said Sunday morning, pointing to some even steeper declines than Moulin's. "Otherwise, I'd be going 'Geez! 44 percent!' I think it's just the weekend. In order to expand the market for another $35 million to take in Swordfish and Evolution, everybody took a hit."
Is Moulin's 44 percent drop cause for alarm? "I really don't think so," Snyder replied. "What it's saying it's the end of is the weak sister theaters that we've had. They'll be disappearing quickly. But where this picture is working, it's still got some great numbers. The individual numbers are terrific. What you're finding in cities is one run is absolutely gangbusters, kicking butt -- usually in the most sophisticated zone -- and the blue collar zones are (not nearly as good). So we'll end up losing those and keeping the solid ones. We've got a long way to go."
MGM's PG-13 comedy What's The Worst that Could Happen? tumbled two pegs to seventh place in its second weekend with a less funny ESTIMATED $5.4 million (-58%) at 2,675 theaters (theater count unchanged; $2,019 per theater). Its cume is approximately $22.2 million.
Directed by Sam Weisman, it stars Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito.
Universal's PG-13 rated adventure blockbuster sequel The Mummy Returns fell three pegs to eighth place in its sixth week with an okay ESTIMATED $4.15 million (-46%) at 2,539 theaters (-665 theaters; $1,635 per theater). Its cume is approximately $188.2 million, heading for $200 million in domestic theaters.
Written and directed by Stephen Sommers, Mummy stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz and features an appearance by wrestling star The Rock.
Columbia's PG-13 rated youth appeal adventure A Knight's Tale slid two notches to ninth place in its fifth week with a calm ESTIMATED $1.7 million (-50%) at 1,850 theaters (-591 theaters; $919 per theater). Tale, which cost only $41 million to produce, has a cume of approximately $52.7 million and is heading for $60 million in domestic theaters.
Written and directed by Brian Helgeland, Tale stars Heath Ledger.
Rounding out the Top Ten was the R rated romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary from Miramax Films, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal and Working Title, down two rungs in its ninth week with a quiet ESTIMATED $1.2 million (-40%) at 975 theaters (-326 theaters; $1,230 per theater). Its cume is approximately $67.4 million, heading for $70 million in domestic theaters.
Having only cost about $25 million to produce, Bridget will be very profitable.
Directed by Sharon Maguire, Bridget stars Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend also saw the arrival of Fine Line Features' R rated comedy The Anniversary Party to an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.16 million at 11 theaters ($14,790 per theater).
Written and directed by Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, its ensemble cast includes Jane Adams, Jennifer Beals, Phoebe Cates, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Parker Posey and John C. Reilly.
Paramount Classics' romantic drama Bride of the Wind opened to an okay ESTIMATED $0.035 million at 8 theaters ($4,420 per theater).
Directed by Bruce Beresford, it stars Sarah Wynter, Jonathan Pryce and Vincent Perez.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
There were no national sneak previews this weekend.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, this weekend saw Miramax's R rated French thriller With a Friend Like Harry... continue to widen in its eighth week with an okay ESTIMATED $0.19 million (-3%) at 99 theaters (+28 theaters; $1,865 per theater). Its North American cume is approximately $2.1 million.
Harry is being released under Miramax's French film banner Miramax Zoe.
Directed by Dominik Moll, it stars Laurent Lucas, Sergi Lopez, Mathilde Seigner and Sophie Guillemin.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 -- took in approximately $94.11 million, up a marginal 1.38% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $92.83 million.
This weekend's key film gross was down about 22.23% from last weekend this year when key films took in $121.02 million.
Last year, Buena Vista's opening week of Gone In 60 Seconds was first with $25.34 million at 3,006 theaters ($8,428 per theater; and Paramount's third week of Mission: Impossible 2 was second with $17.23 million at 3,669 theaters ($4,696 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $42.5 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $35.5 million.
# # #

Elizabeth Hurley's bedeviled character may have charmed Brendan Fraser in "Bedazzled," but the supermodel turned actress's smiles couldn't win over the striking SAG actors who protested at the film's premiere Tuesday night in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. Carrying posters saying "Go Home Scab" and "Elizabeth, You Make Me Hurl," the members marched in a line in front of the Mann Village Theatre's red carpet before celebrities arrived and continued to press forward with jeers and whistle-blowing when limousines pulled up.
When Hurley finally appeared, the noise grew deafening, and publicists held up umbrellas and movie posters to shield the mob from the actress.
Hurley, for her part, refused to let the mayhem rain on her parade. She answered reporters' questions with candor and even cracked a joke or two about her newly single status.
Hurley issued a formal apology to the Screen Actors Guild on Tuesday for filming an Estee Lauder perfume ad in July during the strike. SAG confirmed today that the actress donated $25,000 to the actors fund as part of her act of contrition.
Hurley, who ended her longtime relationship with Hugh Grant this year, maintains that she did not know the commercial was struck work.
In other SAG news, Eddie Murphy today joins Harrison Ford, Helen Hunt, Bruce Willis and Kevin Spacey on the list of high-profile celebrities who have donated $100,000 to the union. SAG has been striking against advertisers since May 1 in a bid to secure residual payments for actors in commercials.
SAG members' donations have amounted to almost $900,000, with Nicolas Cage's $200,000 gift the largest contribution.

Get ready for another X-citing box office weekend.
After its $54.5 million opening last weekend, 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" should easily hold on to the top spot. Even if it falls 50%, the PG-13-rated sci-fi action adventure will still gross about $27 million.
Directed by Bryan Singer and produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, "X-Men's" extensive cast is headed by Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen.
DreamWorks' opening of its R-rated supernatural thriller "What Lies Beneath" (co-financed with Fox, which is releasing it internationally) should materialize in second place. Its 17% overall first choice in the tracking should translate into ticket sales of $20-25 million at 2,500-plus theaters.
"The overall definite interest is 50%," an insider notes. "With men, it's 36% and with women it's 63%. The highest group is 25-plus with 52%. So its (greatest appeal is to) older females."
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Dimension Films' R-rated gross-out comedy horror film spoof "Scary Movie," which fell only 38% to $26.2 million last weekend, should slide one peg to third place. If it drops about 40%, it will do $16-17 million.
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, it stars Carmen Electra and Shannon Elizabeth.
Warner Bros.' G-rated Japanese animated feature "Pokemon The Movie 2000," opening at 2,752 theaters, should finish fourth. Its modest 2% first-choice tracking score is typical of the way films targeted to youngsters track.
"I've got to figure there's still enough life in that to get it to like $10-15 million," a distributor says. "It's a big wild card and, of course, the tracking is no help at all (on kids' films). I've got to feel that there's still enough there that it's going to be in the mix."
Warner Bros.' PG-13-rated adventure drama blockbuster "The Perfect Storm" should sail downstream from third to fifth place. Its 37% decline last weekend gave it $17.1 million. If it's down 40% this weekend, it should do about $10 million.
"'What Lies Beneath' will certainly take (audience) from 'Perfect Storm'," predicts one studio source.
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, "Storm" stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Columbia's opening of its PG-13-rated youth appeal comedy "Loser" isn't looking like a box office winner. Its 3% overall first-choice tracking score should put it in sixth place, arriving at 2,016 theaters with about $8 million.
"The definite interest is 35%," says a distribution executive. "It's pretty even male/female - male 33% and female 38%. The biggest group is 12-17, which is 54%."
Written and directed by Amy Heckerling, it stars Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear.
Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek's PG-13-rated psychological thriller "The In Crowd" isn't expected to be in the Top Five after opening quietly Wednesday at 1,357 theaters. It's also a 3% first choice in the tracking.
"The definite interest is 24%," an insider points out. "It's 19% male and 28% female. The biggest group is 12-17 with 41%."
Directed by Mary Lambert, it stars Susan Ward, Lori Heuring, Matthew Settle and Nathan Bexton.
Filling out lower rungs this weekend: "The Patriot," "Disney's The Kid," "Chicken Run" and "Me, Myself &amp; Irene."
On this weekend's limited release front: USA Films' French drama "Alice Et Martin" opens in New York.
Directed by Andre Techine, it stars Juliette Binoche.
Fine Line Features' R-rated comedy drama "The Five Senses," which opened last week in New York, now moves into Los Angeles.
Written and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, it stars Mary-Louise Parker and Brendan Fletcher.
Lions Gate Films' PG-13-rated "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," a documentary about the life of Tammy Faye Baker, opens in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Looking ahead, an insider notes that Universal and Imagine Entertainment's PG-13-rated comedy sequel "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" starring Eddie Murphy is tracking well. Although "Nutty" doesn't kick off until July 28 - at 3,000-plus theaters - it's already a 9% overall first choice. That number, of course, will grow substantially as its opening date approaches. Insiders are anticipating a very muscular opening for "Nutty II."
The original "Nutty" opened June 28, 1996, to $25.41 million at 2,115 theaters ($12,015 per theater). It went on to do $128.8 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Peter Segal, it stars Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson and Larry Miller.
Buena Vista/Touchstone's PG-13-rated romantic comedy drama "Coyote Ugly" is also sitting pretty in the tracking. The Jerry Bruckheimer production doesn't open until Aug. 4 but is already a 6% overall first choice. "Ugly" is being talked about by some observers as a possible summer sleeper.

Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2" took a predictably big second weekend drop, but held on to first place despite big competition from Fox's "Big Momma's House."
"M:I-2" escaped with an ESTIMATED $27 million (-53%) at 3,653 theaters (theater count unchanged; $7,355 per theater). The PG-13-rated action adventure sequel's cume is approximately $130.7 million.
The original "Mission" dropped 52% in its second weekend (May 31-June 2, 1996) and had a cume at that point of $107.2 million. The sequel's cume is running about 22% ahead of the original.
Paramount had anticipated a drop of 50-55% for "M:I-2's" second weekend, saying that was the range to expect after having just opened to blockbuster business for the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
"M:I-2" should wind up grossing $200-250 million in domestic theaters and $300-350 million in international theaters. Its worldwide cume should total $500-600 million. The first "Mission" did $181 million domestically and $284 million internationally for a worldwide cume of $465 million.
Directed by John Woo, "M:I-2" was produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner production company, which also produced the 1996 blockbuster "Mission: Impossible." Besides Cruise, the sequel stars Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Sherbedgia and Ving Rhames. It was written by Robert Towne and executive produced by Terence Chang and Paul Hitchcock.
(NOTE: Today's percentage drops are calculated against the Friday-Sunday portion of the previous four-day holiday weekend.)
The weekend's big story, however, was 20th Century Fox's PG-13 comedy "Big Momma's House."
"Momma," this weekend's only wide opening, was a hefty second with a full-figured ESTIMATED $25.6 million at 2,802 houses ($9,136 per theater). Insiders said Fox's decision to go for a PG-13 rather than an R rating was a key factor in achieving its solid success.
"Momma's" per-theater average was the highest for any film playing in wide or limited release this weekend.
"Momma" out-performed industry expectations that it would gross around $20 million given its strong tracking scores going into the weekend. Insiders said late last week that the film had 83% awareness and 43% definite interest and was a 13% overall first choice and a 59% first choice for African-Americans.
"In the immortal words of Bobby Carradine in 'Revenge of the Nerds II' - 'We're back,'" a very pleased Tom Sherak, 20th Domestic Film Group chairman and senior executive vice president of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said Sunday morning.
"For us, it's the beginning of what we think will be a big summer. We have (the animated sci-fi feature) 'Titan A.E.' next and then 'Me, Myself &amp; Irene' (starring Jim Carrey and directed by Bobby &amp; Peter Farrelly) and then 'X-Men' (based on the best-selling sci-fi/fantasy comic book) and then 'Bedazzled' (directed by Harold Ramis and starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley). This couldn't start the summer off better."
Sherak said Fox's exit poll scores "were incredible. Excellent was 60%, very good was 28% -- 88% in the Top Two Boxes. Definite recommend was 80% overall." Young males, he added, gave it a definite recommend of over 90%.
Who was "Momma's" core audience? "The core audience was young females - 58% of the audience was under 25 and 60% was female," Sherak replied. "It played huge urban and very good white. You see it crossing over already. There's no color in this. The small little markets did what the small little markets normally do. But the theaters that cross over were huge. When you get to totally white America, the numbers aren't as good, but they're okay."
Emphasizing that the film has good playability for a broad audience, Sherak added, "The critics missed this one. Let's keep a record of how they're doing."
Directed by Raja Gosnell, it stars Martin Lawrence and Nia Long.
Buena Vista/Disney's PG-rated computer animated feature "Dinosaur" took one step down to third place in its third weekend with a less bulky ESTIMATED $12.0 million (-52%) at 3,319 theaters (+17 theaters; $3,616 per theater). Its cume is approximately $96.8 million, heading for $170 million-plus in domestic theaters.
Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, "Dinosaur" features such voices as D.B. Sweeney, Ossie Davis, Joan Plowright, Della Reese and Alfre Woodard.
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13-rated action comedy "Shanghai Noon" fell one rung to fourth place in its second weekend with a less happy ESTIMATED $8.6 million (-45%) at 2,745 theaters (+34 theaters; $3,133 per theater). Its cume is approximately $31.9 million.
Directed by Tom Dey, it stars Jackie Chan, Owen C. Wilson and Lucy Liu.
DreamWorks' R-rated action adventure "Gladiator" slipped one notch to fifth place in its sixth week, still fighting hard with an ESTIMATED $8.1 million (-40%) at 3,056 theaters (-132 theaters; $2,651 per theater). Its cume is approximately $138.7 million, heading for $175-200 million in domestic theaters.
"Gladiator's" 40% drop was the lowest for any film in this weekend's Top Five.
"Gladiator" is half owned by Universal, which is releasing it internationally.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Russell Crowe.
DreamWorks' R-rated youth appeal comedy "Road Trip" finished sixth, down one peg in its third week but showing good legs with an ESTIMATED $6.7 million (-39%) at 2,654 theaters (+23 theaters; $2,524 per theater). Its cume is approximately $45.5 million.
Directed by Todd Philips, it stars Breckin Meyer and Sean William Scott.
New Line's "Frequency" held on to seventh place in its sixth week, continuing to show terrific legs with an ESTIMATED $2.1 million (-27%) at 1,605 theaters (-198 theaters; $1,293 per theater). Its cume is approximately $38.0 million, heading for about $45 million in domestic theatres.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit, it stars Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel.
"Every week, it's had minimal drops," New Line distribution head David Tuckerman said Sunday morning. "The picture's actually doing exactly what we thought it would do - once we got it in the marketplace, word of mouth would carry it."
DreamWorks' Woody Allen PG-rated comedy "Small Time Crooks" dropped two rungs to eighth place in its third week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $1.7 million (-45%) at 874 theaters (+45 theaters; $1,945 per theater). Its cume is approximately $11.2 million.
Written and directed by Woody Allen, it stars Allen, Tony Darrow, Hugh Grant, George Grizzard, Jon Lovitz, Elaine May, Michael Rapaport, Elaine Stritch and Tracey Ullman.
"U-571," Universal's PG-13 World War II submarine drama, descended one notch to ninth place in its seventh week with a quiet ESTIMATED $1.42 million (-45%) at 1,591 theaters (-453 theaters; $892 per theater). Its cume is approximately $71.0 million, heading for about $75 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, "U-571" stars Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi.
Rounding out the Top Ten was Columbia's PG-13-rated youth appeal dance film "Center Stage," down one slot in its fourth weekend with a calm ESTIMATED $1.1 million (-49%) at 1,362 theaters (-144 theaters; $808 per theater). Its cume is approximately $14.4 million.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner, it stars Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy and Ethan Stiefel.
OTHER OPENINGS
Columbia's G-rated family drama "Running Free" opened in 21st place to a slow ESTIMATED $0.055 million at 100 theaters ($545 per theater).
Directed by S rgei Bodrov, it stars Chase Moore.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw no national sneak previews.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, Miramax's R-rated comedy "East Is East" added a few more theaters in its eighth week, placing 17th with a quiet ESTIMATED $0.25 million at 157 theaters (+3 theaters; $1,575 per theater). Its cume is approximately $2.4 million.
Produced by Leslee Udwin and directed by Damien O'Donnell, "East" stars Om Puri and Linda Bassett.
USA Films' PG-13-rated drama "Up At The Villa" went a little wider in its fifth week, placing 18th with a dull ESTIMATED $0.19 million (-18%) at 112 theaters (+4 theaters; $1,685 per theater). Its cume is approximately $1.8 million.
Directed by Philip Haas, it stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Sean Penn, James Fox, Derek Jacobi and Anne Bancroft.
Paramount Classics' PG-13-rated drama "Passion of Mind" went wider in its second week, placing 20th with a weak ESTIMATED $0.099 million (-47%) at 122 theaters (+18 theaters; $815 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.4 million.
Directed by Alain Berliner, it stars Demi Moore.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 for the weekend -- took in approximately $96.89 million, up about 19.86% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $80.83 million for four days.
This weekend's key film gross for three days cannot be compared to this year's previous weekend, which was a four day holiday weekend.
Last year, 20th Century Fox's third week of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Episode One" was first with $32.89 million at 3,024 theaters ($10,877 per theater); and Universal's second week of "Notting Hill" was second with $15.01 million at 2,752 theaters ($5,455 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $47.9 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $52.6 million.
STUDIO MARKET SHARES
Based on business by key films (those grossing $500,000 or more), last weekend's top six distributors were:
Paramount was first with two films ("Mission: Impossible 2 and "Rules of Engagement," grossing an ESTIMATED $27.51 million or 28.4% of the market.
20th Century Fox was second with two films ("Big Momma's House" and "Where the Heart Is"), grossing an ESTIMATED $26.6 million or 27.5% of the market.
Buena Vista (Disney and Touchstone) was third with two films("Dinosaur" and "Shanghai Noon"), grossing an ESTIMATED $20.6 million or 21.3% of the market.
DreamWorks was fourth with three films ("Gladiator," "Road Trip" and "Small Time Crooks"), grossing an ESTIMATED $16.5 million or 17.0% of the market.
Universal was fifth with three films ("U-571," "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" and "Erin Brockovich"), grossing an ESTIMATED $2.48 million or 2.6% of the market.
New Line was sixth with one film ("Frequency"), grossing an ESTIMATED $2.1 million or 2.2% of the market.
ADDITIONAL ESTIMATES
(11)Where the Heart Is/Fox: Theaters: 1,087 (-281) Gross: $1.0 million (-37%) Average per theater: $920 Cume: $30.1 million
(12)Erin Brockovich/Universal: Theaters: 736 (-62) Gross: $0.55 million (-36%) Average per theater: $750 Cume: $122.3 million
(13)Rules of Engagement/Paramount: Theaters: 555 (-238) Gross: $0.51 million (-15%) Average per theater: $920 Cume: $60.2 million
(14)The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas/Universal: Theaters: 1,105 (-386) Gross: $0.50 million (-60%) Average per theater: $455 Cume: $30.9 million
(15)Love &amp; Basketball/New Line: Theaters: 450 (-90) Gross: $0.4 million (-49%) Average per theater: $889 Cume: $26.0 million
(16)Battlefield Earth/Warner Bros./Franchise Pictures: Theaters: 641 (-1,946) Gross: $0.25 million (-70%) Average per theater: $390 Cume: $20.9 million
(17)East Is East/Miramax: (see EXPANSIONS above)
(18)Up at the Villa/USA Films: (see EXPANSIONS above)
(19)Screwed/Universal: Theaters: 242 (-561) Gross: $0.1 million (-70%) Average per theater: $415 Cume: $7.0 million
(20)Passion Of Mind/Paramount Classics: (see EXPANSIONS above)
(21)RUNNING FREE/Columbia: (see OTHER OPENINGS above)

Moviegoers accepted the mission of seeing Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2" over Memorial Day weekend.
"M:I-2's four-day gross of an ESTIMATED $71.8 million at 3,653 theaters ($19,655 per theater) is 26.4% bigger than the first "Mission's" $56.8 million. It puts "M:I-2" into the record books as the second-biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.
The biggest Memorial Day opening, Universal and Amblin's 1997 launch of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," did $90.2 million for four days (May 23-26), but opened on a Friday. "M:I-2's" Wednesday kick off diverted $21 million of ticket sales into Wednesday and Thursday, which might otherwise have bulked up its gross for Friday through Monday.
The sequel's ESTIMATED six-day cume (Wednesday-Monday) of $92.8 million is 23.9% bigger than the original's $74.9 million, which also included Tuesday night previews. "M:I-2" is on track to wind up with $200-250 million in domestic theaters.
With "M:I-2" leading the pack, it was a record-setting Memorial Day at the box office. Key films - those grossing at least $500,000 for the four days - grossed about $179.5 million, up 25.6% from the old record of $142.9 million set May 23-26, 1997, when "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" opened.
"It's number two, behind 'Jurassic Park' (in terms of Memorial Day openings)," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Monday morning. "It's difficult to compare, of course, because they opened on a Friday. We had $21 million on Wednesday and Thursday. If you put that on top of the $71.8 million, we'd be in the $93 million range, where the 'Jurassic' number was $90 million. Again, you can't say, obviously, that you would have picked up all that Wednesday and Thursday gross through the weekend. It's hard to compare that to the 'Jurassic' opening. (What's really important) is the ultimate gross and what you retain. That's the name of the game."
Although Paramount held Tuesday night previews before opening the first "Mission," it chose not to do previews this time around. "One of the reasons we didn't do the previews was because the grosses would have had an asterisk beside it (indicating it was) a six-and-a-half-day number or a four-and-a-half-day number," Lewellen said. "Did it cost us money? I don't think so. You can say, well, they didn't come Tuesday night and they didn't get in Wednesday or whatever. But, ultimately, to the bottom line - no, I don't think it hurt us."
Rainy weather in parts of the East and mid-West on Sunday helped ticket sales in general. "I know there were several baseball games (rained out), and even the Indy 500 was delayed," Lewellen said. "I know the golf tournament in Ohio was delayed until today. They didn't even finish it yesterday. So there was some rain back East, in the North East, particularly."
Where is it heading? "I expect to finish the first seven days in the high $90 millions -- $96-98 million, something like that," Lewellen replied. "The Tuesday figure should be $4.4 million to $5.7 million. If we get that, we're looking at, basically, $96-98 million for the first seven days. That would put it over $100 million on Wednesday (May 31). With a $100 million first week, you have to think it's going to get to $200 million."
That should get "M:I-2" to between $200-250 million in domestic theaters. The first "Mission" did $180.9 million domestically and $284 million internationally, for a worldwide cume of $464.9 million.
The sequel film begins its international release through Paramount and UIP in Australia later this week. "Tom Cruise is down there," Lewellen said. "He went there over the weekend to promote the film."
Given its likely domestic performance and its strong international appeal with Cruise, "M:I-2" should wind up with $300-350 million in international theaters. That would give it a worldwide cume of $500 million to $600 million, an increase over the original's worldwide total of anywhere from 7.5% on the low end to 29% on the high end.
The PG-13-rated action adventure sequel got off to a sizzling start last Wednesday with $12.5 million at a record-setting 3,653 theaters ($3,422 per theater). It took in another $8.5 million Thursday ($2,327 per theater), down just 32% from Wednesday. The original "Mission" had dropped 46% from Wednesday to Thursday -- $11.8 million vs. $6.3 million.
Looking at other daily grosses for "M:I-2" vs. "Mission" shows: Friday -- $16.5 million vs. $13.1 million; Saturday -- $22.1 million vs. $16.7 million; Sunday -- $19.2 million vs. $15.6 million; and Monday - an ESTIMATED $14.0 million vs. $11.4 million. Paramount is estimating that its Tuesday gross will be in the $4.4-5.7 million range. The original's Tuesday gross was $4.1 million.
"M:I-2" went into the record books as the fourth-biggest Wednesday opening ever - behind 20th Century Fox's "Star Wars: Episode One - the Phantom Menace" with $28.5 million; Fox's "Independence Day" with $17.4 million; and Columbia's "Men In Black" with $14 million. "M:I-2" is the second-biggest Wednesday opening ever in the month of May, following ""Phantom Menace."
Not surprisingly, "M:I-2's" per-theater average was the highest for any film playing in wide or limited release this weekend.
Directed by John Woo, "M:I-2" was produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner production company, which also produced the 1996 blockbuster "Mission: Impossible." Besides Cruise, the sequel stars Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Sherbedzija and Ving Rhames. It was written by Robert Towne and executive produced by Terence Chang and Paul Hitchcock.
(NOTE: All of today's weekend estimates are for the four-day period from Friday through Monday. Percentage drops are calculated against the previous three-day weekend plus Monday.)
Buena Vista/Disney's PG-rated computer animated feature "Dinosaur" was second in its second weekend with a still-sizable ESTIMATED $33.5 million (-20%) at 3,302 theaters (+45 theaters; $10,145 per theater). Its cume is approximately $81.9 million, heading for $170-200 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, "Dinosaur" features such voices as D.B. Sweeney, Ossie Davis, Joan Plowright, Della Reese and Alfre Woodard.
Buena Vista/Touchstone and Spyglass Entertainment's PG-13-rated action comedy "Shanghai Noon," the only other wide opening this weekend, got off to an encouraging start in third place with an ESTIMATED $19.5 million at 2,711 theaters ($7,193 per theater).
Directed by Tom Dey, it stars Jackie Chan, Owen C. Wilson and Lucy Liu.
"We're extremely happy," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Monday morning. "For us, we broke a couple of records. We have never launched a movie to an opening as big as 'Shanghai.' Our Memorial Day record up until now has been 'Horse Whisperer' at $14.5 million. So this one makes us feel really good, as well as the fact that 'Dinosaur' just continues to roll. And now that some serious school vacations are ahead of us, we're feeling really good about it.
"I think this is just a fabulous weekend for the industry - to think that we can go five movies deep (all well over $10 million). I think that is just sensational. My records show that we're 25% ahead of the biggest Memorial Day weekend on record and 30% ahead of last year. I've got to think the industry is very healthy when you can have five movies doing it like this."
Viane added that, "I am so excited about 'Shanghai' because everybody questioned whether it was the right thing to do (to open it against 'MI:2'). I think any time you can launch a movie to this number and have the entire summer play time ahead of you with the (film's) playability, you can be nothing but happy. This has been a very good weekend for our guys because this weekend helped break our old record. It's not an industry record, but inside the company, we had never done $400 million (in grosses) this fast. I think we beat our old record by 11 days (that was set) back in '96."
Asked how he felt about "Dinosaur" not doing as much for the four-day weekend as it opened to for three days the prior weekend, Viane replied, "The problem is - and as much as I would have loved to have done that, too - there's no history. That's the problem. There has never been a major family movie that has launched at this time. So nobody knew what to expect.
"My feeling (is that) the top three movies are all PG or PG-13. When I went to the movies this weekend, there were family units at 'Shanghai,' there were family units at 'Dinosaur' and there were family units at 'Mission.' In some respects, we were certainly all competitive and yet, I think, we all did as well, if not better, than could have been expected. I think these five movies have to be ecstatic over what's just happened. If this doesn't launch the summer, I don't know what will. This is fabulous."
Focusing on "Dinosaur," Viane pointed out, "Today we will be somewhere between $8-9 million. It will break the all-time Monday record, which was 'Lion King' at $6.6 million. It's not comparable, because it was a June Monday, but in the summer every day's a holiday. All I know is, it's been an awful nice weekend."
DreamWorks' R-rated action adventure "Gladiator" took fourth place, showing very good legs in its fourth week despite the strength of "M:I-2," with an ESTIMATED $17.3 million (-11%) at 3,188 theaters (+147 theaters; $5,427 per theater). Its cume is approximately $127.2 million, heading for $175-200 million in domestic theaters.
"Gladiator" is half owned by Universal, which is releasing it internationally.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Russell Crowe.
DreamWorks' R-rated youth appeal comedy "Road Trip" was fifth, sliding two pegs in its second week with a still lively ESTIMATED $14.0 million (-12%) at 2,631 theaters (+101 theaters; $5,321 per theater). Its cume is approximately $35.8 million.
Directed by Todd Philips, it stars Breckin Meyer and Sean William Scott.
DreamWorks' Woody Allen PG-rated comedy "Small Time Crooks" rose one rung to sixth place in its second week, holding impressively with an ESTIMATED $3.9 million (-8%) at 870 theaters (+5 theaters; $4,483 per theater). Its cume is approximately $8.9 million.
Written and directed by Woody Allen, it stars Allen, Tony Darrow, Hugh Grant, George Grizzard, Jon Lovitz, Elaine May, Michael Rapaport, Elaine Stritch and Tracey Ullman.
New Line's "Frequency" dropped two slots to seventh place in its fifth week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $3.8 million (-23%) at 1,803 theaters (-399 theaters; $2,108 per theater). Its cume is approximately $35.3 million, heading for about $40 million in domestic theatres.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit, it stars Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel.
"U-571," Universal's PG-13 World War II submarine drama, fell four rungs to eighth place in its sixth week with a slower ESTIMATED $3.19 million (-37%) at 2,043 theaters (-693 theaters; $1,560 per theater). Its cume is approximately $68.9 million, heading for about $75 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, "U-571" stars Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi.
Columbia's PG-13-rated youth appeal dance film "Center Stage" slipped one slot to ninth place in its third weekend with a calm ESTIMATED $2.8 million (-21%) at 1,506 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,859 per theater). Its cume is approximately $12.9 million.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner, it stars Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy and Ethan Stiefel.
Rounding out the Top Ten was 20th Century Fox's PG-13-rated drama "Where the Heart Is," down one notch in its fifth week with a low pressure ESTIMATED $2.0 million (-35%) at 1,372 theaters (-775 theaters; $1,458 per theater). Its cume is approximately $28.6 million.
"Heart," which cost about $15 million to make, was picked up by Fox for domestic and English speaking territories for only $9 million.
Directed and produced by Matt Williams, it stars Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing and Joan Cusack.
OTHER OPENINGS
Paramount Classics' PG-13-rated drama "Passion of Mind" opened poorly in 24th place to an ESTIMATED $0.2 million at 104 theaters ($1,940 per theater).
Directed by Alain Berliner, it stars Demi Moore.
Lions Gate Films' launched its R-rated erotic comedy "8 1/2 Women," placing 27th with a soft ESTIMATED $0.052 million at 15 theaters ($3,440 per theater).
Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, it stars John Standing and Matthew Delamere.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw no national sneak previews.
EXPANSIONS
On the expansion front, Miramax's R-rated comedy "East Is East" went wider in its seventh week, placing 21st with a quiet ESTIMATED $0.39 million at 154 theaters (+88 theaters; $2,550 per theater). Its cume is approximately $2.0 million.
Produced by Leslee Udwin and directed by Damien O'Donnell, "East" stars Om Puri and Linda Bassett.
Miramax Films' R-rated contemporary version of "Hamlet" added a few theaters in its third week, placing 26th with an encouraging ESTIMATED $0.13 million (+13%) at 19 theaters (+6 theaters; $6,785 per theater). Its cume is approximately $0.4 million.
Directed by Michael Almereyda, it stars Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Sam Shepard, Diane Venora, Bill Murray, Live Schreiber and Julia Stiles.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
Key films -- those grossing more than $500,000 for the weekend -- took in approximately $179.52 million for four days, up about 31.92% from the comparable weekend last year when key films grossed $136.08 million for four days.
This weekend's key film gross for four days cannot be compared to this year's previous weekend, which was a non-holiday, three-day weekend.
Last year, 20th Century Fox's second week of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Episode One" was first with $66.90 million at 3,023 theaters ($22,132 per theater); and Universal's opening week of "Notting Hill" was second with $27.69 million at 2,747 theaters ($10,080 per theater). The top two films one year ago grossed $94.6 million. This year, the top two films grossed an ESTIMATED $105.3 million.
STUDIO MARKET SHARES
Based on business by key films (those grossing $500,000 or more), last weekend's top six distributors were:
Paramount was first with two films ("Mission: Impossible 2 and "Rules of Engagement," grossing an ESTIMATED $72.87 million or 40.6% of the market.
Buena Vista (Disney and Touchstone) was second with three films("Dinosaur," "Shanghai Noon" and "Keeping the Faith"), grossing an ESTIMATED $53.61 million or 29.9% of the market.
DreamWorks was third with three films("Gladiator," "Road Trip" and "Small Time Crooks"), grossing an ESTIMATED $35.2 million or 19.6% of the market.
Universal was fourth with three films ("U-571," "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" and "Erin Brockovich"), grossing an ESTIMATED $5.99 million or 3.3% of the market.
New Line was fifth with two films ("Frequency" and "Love &amp; Basketball"), grossing an ESTIMATED $4.75 million or 2.6% of the market.
Sony Pictures Releasing (Columbia, TriStar, Screen Gems) was sixth with one film ("Center Stage"), grossing an ESTIMATED $2.8 million or 1.6% of the market.
ADDITIONAL ESTIMATES
(11)The Flintstones in Viva R ock Vegas/Universal: Theaters: 1,491 (-1,201) Gross: $1.66 million (-40%) Average per theater: $1,110 Cume: $30.1 million
(12)Battlefield Earth/Warner Bros./Franchise Pictures: Theaters: 2,587 (-720) Gross: $1.24 million (-71%) Average per theater: $480 Cume: $20.5 million
(13)Erin Brockovich/Universal: Theaters: 800 (-152) Gross: $1.15 million (-5%) Average per theater: $1,440 Cume: $121.6 million
(14)Rules of Engagement/Paramount: Theaters: 793 (-269) Gross: $1.07 million (-16%) Average per theater: $1,345 Cume: $59.9 million
(15)Love &amp; Basketball/New Line: Theaters: 540 (-293) Gross: $0.95 million (-29%) Average per theater: $1,759 Cume: $25.4 million
(16)Keeping the Faith/Buena Vista: Theaters: 377 (-465) Gross: $0.61 million (-48%) Average per theater: $1,616 Cume: $34.9 million
(17)The Big Kahuna/Lions Gate: Theaters: 309 (0) Gross: $0.53 million (-38%)(tie) Average per theater: $1,720 Cume: $1.9 million
(17)Held Up/Trimark: Theaters: 420 (-259) Gross: $0.53 million (-64%) (tie) Average per theater: $1,260 Cume: $4.2 million
(19)Screwed/Universal: Theaters: 804 (-957) Gross: $0.43 million (-77%) Average per theater: $530 Cume: $6.8 million
(20)The Road to El Dorado/DreamWorks: Theaters: 602 (+151) Gross: $0.42 million (sub-run) Average per theater: $695 Cume: $50.0 million
(22)East Is East/Miramax: (see EXPANSIONS above)
(22)The Virgin Suicides/Paramount Classics: Theaters: 197 (-78) Gross: $0.35 million (-37%) Average per theater: $1,795 Cume: $3.0 million
(23) Up At The Villa/USA Films: Theaters: 108 (-1) Gross: $0.3 million (+1%) Average per theater: $2,785 Cume: $1.5 million
(24)PASSION OF MIND/Paramount Classics: (see OTHER OPENINGS above)
(25)The Skulls/Universal: Theaters: 182 (-123) Gross: $0.19 million (-45%) Average per theater: $1,020 Cume: $35.0 million
(26)Hamlet/Miramax: (see EXPANSIONS above)
(27)8 1/2 WOMEN/Lions Gate Films: (see OTHER OPENINGS above)

DreamWorks' "Gladiator" should be victorious again on the box office battlefield this weekend.
With "Gladiator" still commanding a 30% first-choice tracking score among opening and released movies, there's little doubt the R-rated action adventure will keep a tight grip on the top spot.
If "Gladiator" slips 36% from its $34.8 million opening, its second weekend tribute will still be a handsome sum of about $22 million.
DreamWorks is distributing "Gladiator" domestically, while Universal is releasing it internationally. The two studios co-financed the film, which reportedly cost $103 million to make, and are 50-50 partners, sharing equally in its success.
Directed by Ridley Scott, it stars Russell Crowe.
Warner Bros. and Franchise Pictures' PG-13 rated sci-fi action adventure "Battlefield Earth," opening at 3,307 theaters, should win the battle for second place. With its 19% overall first-choice tracking score, it's likely to gross about $10 million.
"It's a 22% first choice for males under 25 and a 29% first choice for males over 25," explains one studio executive. "Its awareness is 80% and the definite interest is 42% for males."
Directed by Roger Christian, it stars John Travolta, Barry Pepper and Forest Whitaker.
Universal's PG-13-rated comedy "Screwed," opening at 1,760 theaters, is a 12% first choice in the tracking. It is likely to be third with $7-8 million.
"It certainly did pop on the tracking," says an insider. "It's a 20% first choice for males. The awareness for males is 81% and the definite interest is 48% for males."
Written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, it stars Norm MacDonald, David Chappelle and Danny DeVito.
Universal's "U-571" should float downstream two slots to fourth place in its fourth week. If the PG-13-rated World War II submarine drama falls 40%, it will gross about $5 million.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, "U-571" stars Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi.
New Line's PG-13-rated time thriller "Frequency" should tumble one peg to fifth place in its third week. If it slides 35%, it will do about $4 million.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit, it stars Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel.
Columbia's PG-13-rated youth appeal dance film "Center Stage," opening at 1,506 theaters, isn't likely to kick off in the Top Five given its modest 7% first-choice tracking.
"It's not showing on the tracking much at all," notes one studio executive.
Directed by Nicholas Hytner, it stars Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy and Ethan Stiefel.
20th Century Fox's PG-13-rated drama "Where the Heart Is," a $9 million domestic pick up for Fox, was fifth with $5.1 million last week. Its third week should see it depart the Top Five.
Directed and produced by Matt Williams, it stars Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Stockard Channing and Joan Cusack.
Columbia's "I Dreamed Of Africa," which opened in ninth place last week to just $2.4 million, will be struggling to stay in the Top Ten in its second week.
"Africa," made on a mid-range budget of about $34 million, is directed by Hugh Hudson and stars Kim Basinger.
Filling out lower rungs: "Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" and "Love &amp; Basketball."
On the limited release front: Miramax Films opens its R-rated contemporary version of "Hamlet" in New York and Los Angeles.
Directed by Michael Almereyda, it stars Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Sam Shepard, Diane Venora, Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles.
Although this weekend won't set any records, insiders are happy because they anticipate a strong summer season spread around among most of the major studios. That's exactly the sort of summer theater owners enjoy most since it keeps their multiplexes filled with moviegoers, who are certain to buy their share of popcorn, candy and soda.
This summer should see business spread around among many mid-sized hits rather than concentrated, as it was last summer, in two mega-hits -- Fox and Lucasfilm's "Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace" and New Line's "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." Together, the two sequels did about $626 million in ticket sales through Labor Day weekend.
This summer there already are very high hopes for Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2," which will own Memorial Day weekend. Although "M: I-2" doesn't arrive until May 24, it's already an enviable 23% first choice in the tracking. The original "Mission: Impossible" opened May 22, 1996, and grossed $180.9 million domestically, $284 million internationally -- for a worldwide total of $464.9 million.
Memorial Day weekend hits don't always wind up as the summer's biggest grossing films. The original "Mission," for example, was out-grossed by "Twister," which opened nearly two weeks earlier on May 10, 1996, and went on to gross $241.7 million domestically, $254 million internationally -- for a worldwide cume of $495.7 million.
Hollywood has found over the years that movies opening in mid-June or for July Fourth weekend often are the ones that rewrite the record books.
For instance, "Jurassic Park" opened June 11, 1993, and did $357 million domestically. "Independence Day" opened July 3, 1996, and did $306.2 million domestically. "The Lion King" arrived June 15, 1994, and did $312.8 million domestically. "Forrest Gump" opened July 6, 1994, and did $329.7 million domestically. "Men In Black" opened July 2, 1997, and did $250.1 million domestically. "Ghost" appeared July 13, 1990, and did $217.6 million domestically.
Looking beyond "M: I-2," at least eight other summer releases are already shaping up as potentially big box office contenders. Those generating the best buzz at this early point - listed in order of their release dates - include:
* Buena Vista/Disney's computer-animated family film "Dinosaur," which reportedly cost $150 million-plus to make (May 19).
* 20th Century Fox's R-rated comedy "Me, Myself &amp; Irene," directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary") and starring Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger (June 23).
* Columbia's action-adventure "The Patriot," set during the Revolutionary War, directed by Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day") and starring Mel Gibson (June 28), which reportedly cost about $100 million to make.
* Warner Bros.' Action-adventure "The Perfect Storm," directed by Wolfgang Petersen ("Air Force One") and starring George Clooney, which reportedly cost about $120 million to make (June 30).
* 20th Century Fox's live-action fantasy-adventure "X-Men," based on the best-selling comic book series, directed by Bryan Singer ("The Usual Suspects") and starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Ray Park and Anna Paquin (July 14).
* DreamWorks' fantasy thriller "What Lies Beneath," directed by Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump") and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer (July 21).
* Universal and Imagine Entertainment's comedy sequel "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," directed by Peter Seagal ("Tommy Boy") and starring Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller and John Ales (July 28).
* 20th Century Fox's comedy remake "Bedazzled," directed by Harold Ramis ("Groundhog Day") and starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley, a potential summer sleeper (Aug. 11).

Julie Walters shines as Bernie McPhelimy a working-class mother of four who is sick to death of living on the front lines. In curlers and a housecoat she chews out a gunman shooting from her welcome mat as if he were a naughty child. But it isn't until her best friend is shot dead while looking after one of Bernie's kids that she turns from Valium to activism. Daring to criticize the IRA as well as the British army Bernie becomes the town pariah though her gumption turns her into an unlikely celebrity. Ostracized and bullied by their friends her kids -- especially adolescent Ann who just wants to keep her new boyfriend -- resent her and suspect all this fame is going to her head.
In her best film role since "Educating Rita " Julie Walters shows she still has a surplus of piss and vinegar. Her Bernie also displays a sardonic (if exhausted) wit and an all-too-human ego as her fame spreads. While Ciaran Hinds is effective as the ulcer-addled apprehensive husband and Nuala O'Neill gives an appropriately mopey angst-ridden performance as Ann vibrant supporting performances by the townspeople really bring soul and humor to this film.
Quite different from his last film the glossy fluffy "Notting Hill " Rodger Michell's "Titanic Town" is a small indie with many fine miniature moments such as Bernie's preoccupation with the dust bunnies under the bed as British soldiers forcibly search her home. With a spate of IRA films preceding it Michell's is the only one to really show "The Troubles" through a mother's eyes.

Loosely interwoven plotlines about five characters representing the human senses: A magic-fingered massage therapist (Gabrielle Rose); a bespectacled teenage voyeur (Nadia Litz); a cake baker whose taste in men gets her into trouble (Mary-Louise Parker); a music-loving Frenchman who is losing his hearing (Philippe Volter); and a bisexual house cleaner who says his sensitive shnozz can sniff true love (Daniel MacIvor). Tying the stories together -- sort of -- is the search for a lost young girl in the vicinity.
The terrific ensemble of mostly Canadian actors doesn't have a weak link. Playwright/performance artist MacIvor and Hollywood import Parker break up the picture's melancholy tone with much-needed moments of sarcastic humor. Veteran French thespian Volter gives a complex nuanced performance as a somewhat self-involved eye doctor whose impending deafness eventually generates real pathos.
Writer-producer-director Jeremy Podeswa has mixed success executing this abstract thematically ambitious work. Visually he and cinematographer Gregory Middleton serve up a true feast for the senses -- light streaming into imaginatively decorated rooms close-ups of objects so finely textured you want to reach out and grab them. On the narrative level the director has difficulty maintaining dramatic tension while intercutting between the several independent storylines.